


Platovember IronFam Drabbles

by jelly_pies



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Drabble Collection, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Platovember, Tony Stark Angst, honestly this is mostly angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:00:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27350866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jelly_pies/pseuds/jelly_pies
Summary: A hundred words per Platovember prompt, dedicated to the familial and platonic relationships of Tony Stark's IronFam.
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Tony Stark, Edwin Jarvis & Tony Stark, Happy Hogan & Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan & Tony Stark, Harley Keener & Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) & Tony Stark, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Pepper Potts, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Tony Stark, Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) & Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark, Nebula & James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Nebula & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Nebula & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts & James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Pepper Potts & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & DUM-E, Tony Stark & Ho Yinsen
Comments: 267
Kudos: 96





	1. "Rest" — Tony and Peter

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts taken from [@broskepol's Platovember prompt list on tumblr.](https://broskepol.tumblr.com/post/632454641741873152/hey-everyone-ive-finally-come-up-with-a-november) Here's to celebrating platonic love!
> 
> (Since this is IronFam-centric, some chapters mention Pepper/Tony, but in keeping with Platovember it’s never the main focus of the stories.)

“Come on, man, take a break.” Peter perched beside him. “What will it take for you to rest?”

Tony knew the answer. He knew why the garage was littered with blueprints, quantum tunnel research, plans. But Tony was no stranger to failed plans—or to long nights, for that matter.

“Long past your bedtime, kid,” Tony mumbled out of habit. “I’ll see you soon.”

There was no answer. Tony shook himself, blinking the sleep out of his eyes as he swept them around the room, but Peter was gone. It took Tony a moment to remember.

Peter was still gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I turned this prompt on its head, I'm sorry ✌️


	2. “Escape” — Tony and Peter

“The second you see your shot—”

“I’m not leaving you,” Peter hissed.

“—you  _ take _ it. Kid—” Tony motioned to his broken, shackled legs. “I’ll only slow you down. This isn’t a discussion.”

Peter was chained too, but not with reinforced metal. It was their one hope, Peter knew, but still he pushed back. “They’ll punish you.”

“I’m not losing you again.”

Peter glared. “Way to play  _ that _ card.”

Tony glared back. Eventually, they both fell silent; Tony opened his arms, and Peter fell into them.

He knew he would have to leave him soon. Peter just wanted this last moment.


	3. “Acceptance” — Tony and Nebula

“Sorry. Dads suck.”

Nebula sighed. “Yeah.”

She and Tony were in the cockpit. They had shared everything these past three weeks—meager rations, the workload, backstories. Now they were sharing their final moments.

Nebula wondered if it was worse for Tony, who was sure to go first, or for herself, who still had a few months of drifting to go.

But they had both accepted their fate. They had no choice.

“All that time I feared space,” Tony spoke up. “Never actually thought I’d die side by side with an alien.”

Nebula’s voice was small. “How about with a friend?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My hobby: turning even soft prompts like “acceptance” into angst.


	4. "Expectation" — Rhodey and Pepper

The worst part was the waiting.

It was the same in Afghanistan. And Titan five years ago. Now, outside a Wakandan hospital, Pepper and Rhodey find themselves in a familiar position: leaning on each other’s shoulders. Waiting.

She tracks every update. He brings the coffee. And they sit in silence in the furnace that had forged their friendship so long ago.

They shared other things, too. Their sense of humor. Their love of Star Trek. Their ability to stay strong for other people.

But their shared concern—that was unique to Pepper and Rhodey’s friendship.

So, too, their shared grief.


	5. “Wish” — Tony and Morgan

_ When you wish upon a star _

Morgan remembers when her dad sang her that song to sleep. She had wondered why. Her dad hated stargazing.

But she sings it now, looking up at the stars. Knowing that somewhere among them, there’s a spaceship, and in it, her father. Fatally hurt, cryopreserved, on a desperate mission to heal his radiation injuries with the advanced technology of other planets. Or so her mom had explained to her.

Morgan looks up, hanging every last wish on every last star. Because just maybe, it will work. Dad’s song will work.

_ Your dreams come true _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *holding fixit idea* I just think it's neat!


	6. “Warmth” — Tony and Jarvis (and JARVIS)

Jarvis’s hands were always warm.

Maybe it was the tea unfailingly ready for Tony whenever Howard started yelling. Or the blanket Jarvis wrapped around Tony’s grief-sick form that one December night. Whatever the case, Tony had always associated him with warmth.

The day of Jarvis’s funeral was cold.

Years later, Tony dug up his old Christmas stocking, hanging it by the biggest fireplace in the mansion.

“For me, Sir?”

“Yeah, I’m shopping for transistors tomorrow.”

“Some upgrades would be nice,” the AI joked warmly. JARVIS’s voice was always warm.

The day Tony lost his friend a second time was cold.


	7. "Gratitude" — Pepper and Morgan

The flowers were perfect. Morgan knew her mother loved sunflowers. Dessert on the table—berry cheesecake, no strawberries.

Pepper arrived early from work, and her reaction was just as Morgan had hoped.

"Surprise! A day early, but… if I'd done this on Mother's Day, you'd be expecting it."

They shared a hug, Morgan adding in a whisper, "I know it's not easy being a single mom. And I just… um, thanks."

Pepper kissed the top of Morgan's head, grinning at all the elaborate preparations adorning the dining table. "You're your father's daughter, alright."

Morgan hugged her tighter. "I'm yours, too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my ideal universe Pepper isn't a single mother because Tony is alive and raising Morgan with her, but shhh this is angstworld, with a dash of mother-daughter fluff (yay finally, fluff!)


	8. "Trust" — Tony and Happy

The bodyguard saved Tony's life once. "Want a promotion, Hogan?"

"... what?"

"I trust you."

Then he was Tony's driver, always at his side (often the _only_ one left there after Tony's drunken excursions). "T-take us home, Happy… Tr'st you."

Keeping the engagement ring was a surprise, though. "Why me?"

"I trust you," Tony replied simply.

Head of security. Asset manager. Superhero babysitter.

And always, "I trust you."

Then, the Battle.

Tony's final expression of trust came through hologram. "If I… you know. Would you keep an eye on our family? Please, Buddy…"

… the familiar three words served as their goodbye.


	9. "Darkness" — May and Peter

Ben loved that lightsaber nightlight. May remembers him passing it on to Peter, the night they took him in. "For a little light in the darkness."

Peter loved that nightlight. May remembers the bedtime stories told under its soft glow. The pillow forts built around it.

The way Peter turned it off for weeks after Ben died.

But tonight, May finds it on. Tonight Peter grasps her tightly when she comes in to say good night. Tonight they end up holding each other under its glow.

Ben was right. It was nice to have a little light in the darkness.


	10. "Relief" — Tony and Rhodey

The man held up a damn _peace sign._

And Rhodey knew, after three excruciating months, he had finally found his presumed-dead best friend. (Tony had thought him dead too, in the convoy attack, Rhodey found out later.)

The man cracked a damn _funvee joke._

Tony laughed, but as he buried his face in his best friend’s shoulder to assure himself they were both alive, he was trying not to cry. (So was Rhodey, Tony found out later.)

And their brother’s arms weren’t much of a shield from either the blazing desert heat, or the trauma.

But, damn. It was something.


	11. "Murmur" — Rhodey and Peter

He reminded him of Tony.

Peter’s movements around Tony's lab, his enthusiasm at his inventions, were ghosts of the past murmuring in Rhodey’s ears.

“Thanks for still letting me hang out here,” Peter said one afternoon.

“It’s what he would have wanted," Rhodey replied, before excusing himself from the workshop. The murmurs were getting too loud.

Peter waved as Rhodes left. He valued the older hero's expertise, and occasional advice, these past few years. And when War Machine snarked that general on their last mission, it hit Peter with both laughter and a bittersweet reminiscence.

He reminded him of Tony.


	12. "Loss" — May and Pepper

“How long did it take?” Pepper asked. “For things to go back to normal?”

As May pondered the question, Morgan and Peter darted past, their laughter floating on the breeze as they chased each other around the lake house. Morgan’s hair blew in her face, and Peter’s laugh echoed across the water. Just for a moment, he was a carefree kid again.

May and Pepper basked in the happy sight of their children playing together—something neither of their husbands had ever gotten to see.

May took her new friend’s hand in hers. “When I find out, I’ll tell you.”


	13. "Forgiveness" — Tony and Natasha

Neither of them were very good at hashing out their feelings. They barely talked at all since she went rogue, except one clunky heart-to-heart post-Decimation.

So when Natasha received the invitation for Christmas, she knew how much it meant.

“Didn’t like to think of you alone in the Compound,” Tony said lightly. As usual, his eyes said much more.

At dinner, Tony's banter, Rhodey’s gifts, Pepper’s tight hug—belly bump and all—it felt like family again. Maybe a little awkward, like all new beginnings. But all one can do is their best.

And sometimes, that best is starting over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That lake house scene in Endgame where everyone acts like they haven't seen each other in years? Yeah, no ❤️


	14. "Silence" — Tony and Peter

Wind whistling. Trees groaning. Leaves drifting like settling dust.

Tony walks alone.

Sunflowers. Bright yellow clashing with late autumn in the park. Tony lays them down.

A child's laughter in the distance. Tony doesn't turn. The sunset turns red as a faraway planet; the breeze, chilly as space.

Peter would have lightened the mood. Always a wisecrack, even in the thick of battle. Always his energetic ramblings, on lab days or medbays. And Tony always answered. They bounced words off each other like a team sport.

The rest of Tony's life would be off season. Because graves—

Graves are silent.


	15. "Damage" — Tony and Yinsen

Tony stumbled on the floor, dripping wet. The door slammed behind him.

"Any damage?" Yinsen ran up.

Tony breathed heavily around the arc reactor on his chest, shifting to show it was still intact. "They want us to go faster."

"And torturing you achieves that."

 _"You_ try talking to them." Tony started shivering. Yinsen got their sparse medical kit. "Reactor first—" Tony waved the blanket off.

Yinsen tucked it around his shoulders anyway. _"You_ first. When you get out of here, Stark, try not to tempt death every few hours."

Tony set his jaw. "When _we_ get out of here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *John Mulaney meme* and then _they_ didn't 😢


	16. "Safety" — Rhodey and Morgan

"This is safe, right?"

"No backing out now," Rhodey grinned.

Morgan stumbled mid-air, but caught herself, stabilizing the foot thrusters. _"Not_ backing out of anything."

"Attagirl. Let's take it slow. Few yards off the ground." Uncle and teenage niece levitated together, each in their own suit, while Pepper beamed at them from the sidelines.

"Whoa!" Rhodey extended an arm. "Easy on descent."

Morgan took deep breaths to calm herself. She was more like Pepper that way. "Thanks, Uncle Platypus."

"Anytime, Miss Alpaca."

Morgan's twinkling eyes, though? Those were all Tony. Rhodey promised himself to keep them safe—this time around.


	17. "Delight" — Rhodey and Nebula

Nebula’s nose crinkled. "Seriously?"

"What? It's just candy."

"I meant—" Nebula’s eyes swept over the spookily decorated lake house— "a holiday for horror, and Terrans do… candy?"

"We'll find fun in anything." Rhodey grinned. "Reese's Cup?"

"I don't understand."

"You and Stark-baby are both experiencing your first Halloween, I get it. But believe me, the sweets are the best part."

"This 'Halloween' is meant to be  _ delightful?" _

"It can be. It's… embracing the scariness—"

"I do that."

"—and laughing."

"You lost me."

Rhodey chuckled. "Just take the candy, Blue."

Nebula hesitated. She wasn't used to… 'delightful.'

But she could try.


	18. "Fall" — Rhodey and Pepper

He still had nightmares about it. Stuck in his suit, unable to move. Falling, falling.

Sometimes the Compound found Rhodey wandering around in the dead of night. Walking, to remind himself he still could.

She still had nightmares about it. The fire of Extremis, the painful regeneration on the ground. Falling, falling.

Sometimes the Compound found Pepper alone on the balcony. Feeling the night breeze on her face, to remind herself she still could.

And, sometimes, they found each other.

They didn't always need to talk. Sometimes, the nightmares were kept at bay, just by having a friend beside them.


	19. "Lightness" — Nebula and Morgan

“See? Fun.” Tony and Nebula flicked the paper in turns. Tony let her win.

Nebula hadn’t understood the concept at first, but she did now. Stuck for weeks with nothing but death on their minds, a little lightness was more than welcome.

“See? Fun.” Nebula showed the girl.

She had hesitated to approach Morgan at first, both of them lonely in a house full of mourners. But as Morgan gave a small smile, Nebula knew she’d made the right decision.

“Dad used to play this with me,” Morgan whispered, flicking the paper.

Nebula let her win. “I know. Me, too.”


	20. "Anxiety" — Tony and May

Tony never thought he'd see the day when he'd be spending more time waiting outside the Compound medbay than stuck inside it. May Parker probably never imagined she'd be here so often, either. But here they both were.

It's more nerve-wracking on this side of the glass.

They've done this so many times before, they have a system. Communication. Chair-beds. Coffee. Companionship. And at least one of them staying awake, at all times. Staying prepared. Staying sane.

Trying not to think about a day when news comes from the inside, that neither May nor Tony could ever prepare themselves for.


	21. "Trembling" — Pepper and Happy

"Don't let him see your hands shaking."

"What?" Virginia looks up—and sits on her hands.

"You nervous?" the man asks.

"I'm about to tell Tony Stark he almost let a huge accounting error slip unnoticed, so…"

"Just handle him like you handled me." He rubs at his eye.

"Sorry, I—didn't mean to _actually_ pepper spray you."

"Whatever you say."

"Hogan, right?"

"Yeah."

"Potts."

"Delighted," Hogan says tonelessly. Just then the secretary calls Virginia in.

The gruff man would deny it years later, but as Virginia walks away, she could swear Hogan just gave her the slightest thumbs up.


	22. "Vulnerability" — Tony and Harley

Tony had been here before: immobilized, with his reactor—his heart—in someone else's hands. The first time, it was Tony’s trusted godfather, betraying him.

Now, it's some kid from Tennessee Tony just met—saving his life.

And _damn,_ Tony thinks, nothing says vulnerability like collapsing in the snow, no armor, the reactor he’d just removed to save someone else’s life trapped in his own stone-stiff fingers. But Harley pries it off, and sticks it back in Tony’s chest, and _breathe_ —Tony can _breathe_ again.

How easily Iron Man falls. How simply a random kid, picks Tony Stark back up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is from that deleted scene in Iron Man 3!


	23. "Study" — Tony and Bruce

"Doing good?" Tony's voice called over Bruce's shoulder.

"It's coming along," Bruce mumbled, assembling the new time travel GPS.

"You studied my blueprints, right?"

"Of course, but I'm no expert. Can't you double-check?"

"FRIDAY can, and the Wakandan princess. But I trust your workmanship. Doctor."

Finally… _finished._ Bruce held up the device.

Tony whistled. "Hey, beautiful."

"Hopefully Cap has less trouble returning the Stones than retrieving them."

"God, yeah," Tony chuckled.

Bruce smiled sadly. "So that's it? With you?"

"He left behind me to help you, Bruce. So… that's it."

"Gonna miss you, Tony."

The hologram flickered. "Me too, buddy."


	24. "Secret" — Tony and Rhodey

Tony and Rhodey had a secret lair in the Compound. Everyone had quarters, sure, but what fun is a superhero base without a hideout only you and your best friend know about? When Tony first mentioned the idea, it took Rhodey back to college: secret passages, taking shortcuts around campus. Of course he agreed.

Rhodey once found Tony there, hiding a migraine. After the airport fight, Rhodey sat there through a panic attack, Tony beside him. The room was their own.

Rebuilding the Compound after the Battle, Rhodey made sure the hideout survived—even if its original creator did not.


	25. "Hope" — Pepper and Peter

Pepper remembered that picture fondly. She _took_ that picture, and the hundred others with equally goofy poses before Tony and Peter finally settled on the bunny ears.

She gave it to Peter after the funeral.

"This was his time travel breakthrough?" Peter traced a finger over the frame.

“The upside-down certificate… inverted mobius strip," Pepper said softly. "You gave him hope."

"I'm sorry."

Pepper squeezed his hand, frowning. "You shouldn't be."

Peter sniffled. "I'm glad, about… I mean, I'm _grateful…_ I just wish…"

Pepper went in for a hug; the kid didn't pull away.

Sometimes hope exacts a steep price.


	26. "Dream" — Tony and Morgan

For someone who'd never seen the Battle, Morgan dreamt about it a lot. It always ended with her dad—burnt, like logs in a fireplace. Morgan's mom answered her screams. “Just a dream,” Pepper soothed.

Once, dozing in the car, Morgan dreamt of her dad’s coffin. She woke up to worried frowns. “Just a dream,” Uncle Happy assured.

So when word finally arrived from Wakanda, the poor girl still couldn’t help murmuring about her nightmares. Until the revived patient wrapped her tenderly in his arms, his raspy voice the best sound Morgan had ever heard.

“Not a dream,” Tony promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rare angst-with-a-happy-ending drabble! ❤️


	27. "Loyalty" — Tony and Dum-E

"By James Rhodes and Tiny Stark," read Dum-E's code. Dum-E was loyal to his creators.

Tiny took him in after college, moving Dum-E to his spacious workshop. Dum-E helped him out sometimes, slipped up on others, but Tiny never went through with his threats of throwing Dum-E out.

Maybe Tiny was loyal to him, too.

Sometimes Tiny went away, but he always came back—with a new shiny thing on his chest, with new inventions. And Dum-E always waited for him.

Even when the bot sat collecting dust in a lake house garage, he waited.

Because Tiny always came back…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to think "Tiny" was Rhodey's prank, and Tony never knew that's what his bot calls him in its little AI mind


	28. "Contrast" — Peter and Morgan

"Tell me a bedtime story, Petey!"

Peter chuckled. "Like what?"

"Like Daddy does!"

Peter didn't have the heart to correct her present tense. "Once upon a time, um… Iron Man," he began, "saved a little boy in a toy helmet and thrusters."

Morgan listened intently, chin propped on her hand. "Daddy never told me that story," she said after Peter finished.

"What were his stories about?"

"Spider-Man," Morgan smiled. "Usually Spider-Man, saving people. But I like your Iron Man stories too."

Peter tried not to let her see the tears welling up. "I have a lot of Iron Man stories."


	29. "Break" — Tony and Peter

_How do you know when to break an embrace?_ Tony wonders. Because Peter's _here,_ the son Tony loved and grieved like his own, and _five more seconds, please merciless universe, you stole five years. Give us five more seconds._

 _But even a father's arms can break,_ Tony knows. Around them, the battle rages too loud to ignore—fire, and death, and a world to fight for.

He lets Peter go. A parting grip on the shoulder. A "take care, kid," that means so much more.

He breaks the embrace. _Not for long; their next will be in celebration—_ Tony hopes.


	30. "Reunion"

Five years later, they gather.

A girl’s laughter drifts on the autumn breeze. Beside her, a young man swings from the branches—red spider mask in one pocket, a black one he’s been tweaking with his mentee in another.

Several cars and one spaceship dot the lakeside. Around the table are shawarma, drinks, old friends catching up with each other. And two empty chairs.

Often there will be a break in the conversation, and these vacant spaces receive nostalgic glances. Someone will raise a glass remembering their loss, saluting their legacy, celebrating bonds forged in iron.

And they carry on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I considered ending this collection on a happy fixit note, I really did 😢 But in the end my angsty side won out, and I thought this was more… true to the tune of the majority of the other drabbles.
> 
> Wow, this is the last one, huh? I really enjoyed writing these. Thank you so much for reading, especially to those following from the beginning—I truly appreciate every kudos and comment. I'd love to hear if you had any favorites out of the series! I'm also on [tumblr,](https://jelly-pies.tumblr.com/) let’s scream about the IronFam together. And that's it! Thirty drabbles, 3000 words for the characters I love 3000 ❤️


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